Report: Jaxlee
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has met with the visiting Singaporean President S.R. Nathan. The meeting was held at the President’s Office at noon today.
President Gayoom noted that President Nathan was the first Singaporean Head of State to visit the Maldives. He thanked President Nathan for accepting his invitation to visit the country.
Focusing on the existing close friendly relations between the Maldives and Singapore, President Gayoom highlighted that bilateral ties had grown from over the past decade. He also expressed his confidence that the Singaporean President’s historic visit would boost relations further in the time ahead. Further, President Gayoom thanked his counterpart for bringing along a high-level business delegation on this visit.
President Gayoom thanked President Nathan, the government and people, for the support and assistance that Singapore has extended to the Maldives, in the ongoing recovery efforts after the tsunami disaster of 2004.
The two leaders also noted the common positions that the two countries had taken over the years on issues of global importance, including climate change, sea-level rise, the security of smaller states and terrorism. President Gayoom noted that the Maldives was hosting an important international conference, entitled “The Human Dimensions of Climate Change”, to prepare for the upcoming Bali summit in December. President Nathan informed President Gayoom that Singapore, as the Chair of ASEAN, was preparing to host this year’s ASEAN Summit. He elaborated that climate change was an issue that was on ASEAN agenda, and that Singapore would call for urgent global action to address the problem.
President Nathan congratulated President Gayoom on the tremendous strides of development that the Maldives had taken over the past 30 years. He noted that the Maldives today had the highest GDP per capita in South Asia. President Nathan said that Singaporean entrepreneurs were keen to know the business and investments opportunities available in the Maldives.
The two leaders also discussed ways to enhance bilateral ties in the time ahead. They also exchanged views on current regional and international issues, and emphasized the need to adopt common position in such issues at various international forums.
Singaporean President S.R. Nathan was welcomed on arrival at the President’s Office, by the Minister for Presidential Affairs,Mohamed Hussain. President Nathan also signed the dignitaries’ book at the President’s Office.
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